Directors and Staff
Vincent Boudreau
Director
Vincent Boudreau serves as the director of the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies and oversees the Center's management and growth. Boudreau is also Professor and Chair of the CCNY Political Science Department. An expert in Southeast Asia, his latest book is Resisting Dictatorship: Repression and Protest in Southeast Asia (Cambridge University Press, 2004); he also writes on social movements, repression, and collective violence. Boudreau also directs the Center's Democracy Assistance Initiative, which includes a recent emphasis on collective violence in political transitions, but has also worked in Center projects about security and democracy assistance policy. In 2006-2007, Dr. Boudreau was on leave from the Center on a Fulbright grant supporting research about the relationship between civil society, social movements and democratization processes in Indonesia and the Philippines.
Andrew Rich
Deputy Director (Acting Director 2006-2007)
Andrew Rich is deputy director of the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies and works with the director on all aspects of the Center’s growth and direction. Rich is Associate Professor of Political Science, with specialties in American politics and policymaking. He is the author of Think Tanks, Public Policy, and the Politics of Expertise (Cambridge University Press, 2004). Rich directs the Center’s Leadership and Philanthropy Initiative, and he played a central role in developing the Center's Service Learning Program.
Nora Heaphy
Program Director for Service Learning
Nora Heaphy is Program Director for Service Learning at the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies. She comes to the Center with 15 years of teaching and non-profit management experience Prior to joining the Center, she was executive director of Refugee Transitions in San Francisco and development director for Asian Americans for Equality in New York City. She also served as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in Lesotho, Southern Africa from 1992-1994. Heaphy oversees the Center’s Service Learning Program, leads our community partnerships in Harlem as part of the Engaging New York Initiative,and administers service-learning scholarships through the Powell Center.
Maura Christopher
Director of Publications
Maura Christopher is the Director of Publications at the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies. She comes to the Center with a background in educational and consumer publishing. She has held positions as senior editor and news editor at national publications and has developed educational materials for clients ranging from the state of Georgia to the USDA. At the Center, she produces print and online content, including the Center’s e-newsletter and Web pages, grants, and annual repors, and helps the Center’s fellows and scholars develop editorial content.
Wanda Mercado
Executive Assistant/Office Administrator
Wanda Mercado is Executive Assistant/Office Administrator at the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies. She received a Bachelor's degree in Business Administration from Lehman College. She began her career by working in broadcast, first as a junior assistant and eventually as one of the top sales account executives for one of New York's premier radio stations. She made the transition from broadcast to academia in 2004. At the Colin Powell Center, Mercado oversees much of the Center's daily administrative activities and works closely with the Center's directors on the Center's management.
Jean Krasno
Initiative Director for Multilateral Diplomacy
and International Organizations
Jean Krasno is director of the Center’s Initiative in Multilateral Diplomacy and International Organizations. A political scientist, Krasno specializes in international law and United Nations decision-making. Her most recent books include, The United Nations and Iraq: Defanging the Viper (with co-author James S. Sutterlin, Praeger Publishers, 2004), and The United Nations: Confronting the Challenges of a Global Society, (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2004). Krasno was selected by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to organize and archive his official papers, which will be stored at the Powell Center.
Maria C. Binz-Scharf
Research Fellow
Maria Binz-Scharf is a Research Fellow at the Colin Powell Center for Policy Studies and an Assistant Professor of Management in the Economics Department at the City College of New York. Her research focuses on the processes of knowledge sharing in bureaucratic structures, with a particular emphasis on how information technologies (IT) are used to support these processes. Currently she is exploring how forensic scientists in government crime labs search for the knowledge they need to get their work done. In addition, she is working on the diffusion of cultural competence in healthcare organizations. At the Powell Center, Professor Binz-Scharf is working on a project examining the sharing of innovation across government agencies.
Charlotta L. Chung
AmeriCorps VISTA Fellow, 2008-2009
Charlotta L. Chung comes to the Center from St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, where she graduated in May 2008 with a degree in Sociology. As a VISTA Fellow, Chung is responsible for working with the Harlem 40 Mentors Association and the Harlem 50 College Advisement Program. She also advises the Center’s Community Engagement Fellows on their community-service projects and assists faculty and students as they develop student leadership and campus-community partnerships for service-learning opportunities. Chung, who has a strong volunteer and service-learning background, was selected in 2007 as a Harry S. Truman Scholar, which recognizes students who seek to work in public service.
